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Nintendo revealed a new pink version of its 3DS handheld today. The pastel-colored hardware comes bundled with one of two different versions of “nintendogs + cats,” and the packaging is predictably adorable.

Nintendo’s MSRP for the bundle is $169.99, which is the same as the current price for a 3DS all on its own.

Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword will be released Nov. 20 for the Wii console, Nintendo announced today.

Nintendo announced a “Holiday” release at the E3 convention, which took place in June in Los Angeles. Skyward Sword will be the first traditional Zelda title designed specifically for the Wii console’s motion controls. Its predecessor, Twilight Princess, was originally designed for the GameCube before being rebuilt for the Wii.

I would like to say that Nintendo also announced a release date for Kid Icarus: Uprising, its highly anticipated 3DS title, but that would be a lie.

Nintendo announced a big price drop for their still-new 3DS portable gaming system. The Big N slashed $80 from the devices’ MSRP, bringing it down to $169.99 from $249.99.

There’s more: Nintendo also revealed plans to release a package of downloadable NES and Game Boy Advance titles for the 3DS. Players who buy the system before the price drop – Nintendo has taken to calling them “3DS Ambassadors” – can get the games free of any additional charge.

The 3DS’ price drop, to be effective Aug. 12, follows many reports, such as this one, of disappointing sales for the new handheld. The 3DS’s big selling point was its 3D visuals, but readers can go to virtually any gaming website and read comments from players lamenting a relative lack of games for the new system.

A message posted to Megaman Legends 3′s Developer Room site has confirmed the worst: Megaman won’t be returning to his RPG-lite series on the 3DS.

The project had elicited the help of fans in designing a new character for the game as well as a new robot enemy through contests designed to bring fans closer to the production of the title.

Regular updates were made by the staff within a “Developer Room” site at Capcom’s Japanese and North American sites, fielding questions and keeping everyone updated on the project. It was a rare level of transparency that Platinum Games’ had also engaged fans with through blog entries following the development of games such as Bayonetta.

When Keiji Inafune had left Capcom shortly after Capcom had revealed their Megaman Legends 3 project for the Nintendo 3DS, fans were understandably worried over whether the project would survive without him.

It was already a huge surprise to many considering that the last Legends game, Mega Man Legends 2, came out in 2000. The Mega Man godfather had even mentioned interest in doing a follow-up to Legends 2 in an interview with Gamespot in 2007.

Capcom did their best to assure everyone that the the game wouldn’t be impacted by Inafune’s departure, though it’s hard not to think about the kind of influence one-time series producer could have brought to the game. Yet the collection of blog postings and updates at Capcom’s Developer Room had shown that the team behind the game was working to make it a worthy successor to the series that Inafune had started.

And now, it looks like we’ll never know how it could have turned out at all.

Game Informer reports that Nintendo will debut a new console during or even prior to E3, the industry convention to be held in June in Los Angeles.

From their report:

We have confirmed with multiple sources that this new home system is
capable of running games at HD resolutions. There are conflicting
reports, however, as to whether its graphics will be comparable to those
on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 – meaning it could surpass or fall
short of those systems. Either way it will offer competitive
specifications. Moving to HD should greatly help Nintendo and its new
console in getting more multi-platform triple-A titles like Portal 2 or
Mortal Kombat. This, in turn, will strengthen Nintendo’s historically
poor relationship with third-party publishers/developers.

Interesting stuff. It’s pretty much accepted as a truism among gaming writers that much of the Wii’s success

Overworks’ Skies of Arcadia’s continues to hold a dear place in the hearts of many RPGers that have taken to the skies in the game as good hearted pirates in search of riches and adventure. Filled with memorable characters, clever sky combat, and traditional RPG gameplay on the ground, many of us are still waiting for an official sequel.

But it looks like Ignition Entertainment may have something that might be the next best thing.Continue reading →